


Garden Gate Flight

by danceswithhamsters01



Series: Reddit Prompts [27]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Interviews, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 04:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithhamsters01/pseuds/danceswithhamsters01
Summary: Based on a prompt from r/dragonage.Some years have passed and an intrepid scholar has tracked down the elusive (and somewhat grumpy) Hero of Ferelden, Sevarra Amell. Eager to hear her side of the story, they attempt to interview her. What follows is the scholar's account of the experience.





	Garden Gate Flight

**Prompt 2:** A Series Of Codex Entries: A scholar caught up and was able to get Hawke, Warden or the Inky to talk to them. In a series of codexes that are in their own words, how would the Warden, Hawke or the Inquisitor describe how they have developed since the beginning of their adventures.

 

 

When I first envisioned the fabled Hero of Ferelden, the first Grey Warden to slay an archdemon and survive, who then went missing several years after getting matters in the Arling of Amaranthine settled; a diminutive woman bouncing a toddler on her knee wasn’t what I expected. To be fair, I hadn’t expected to be showered with promises of a painful death if I ever revealed her location, either. Let it be known that the Hero and her beloved greatly value their privacy.

 

“Thank you for meeting with me, Lady Amell.”

 

She looks up and favors me with a sour expression. “Arainai. It’s been that for years, now. I haven’t exactly hidden the fact that Zevran and I are married.”

 

“My apologies. Shall we start, then? From the beginning? What was it like growing up in a Circle?”

 

She shrugs, then makes a silly face at the child on her lap. “It was what it was. I felt safe there. I was around others of my kind. I had people I cared about and people who cared about me. I grew up knowing no other kind of life. I have no memories of my parents. It was quite a shock going from being seen as a fellow person, to being considered just short of a monster by the common folk. You have no idea how hurtful that is. Most mages I know have no desire to rule or control anything, other than their own lives. If you want “scary mages,” I suggest you cast your eye toward folk tales, or perhaps Tevinter.”

 

“In the years since the Battle of Ostagar, have your opinions of any of the parties involved changed? General Loghain, or perhaps the late king Cailan Theirin?”

 

She freezes for a moment. I can feel the room get colder. After a deep breath, she replies. “No. I’ll never forgive Loghain. Not only do I hold him responsible for decimating the Ferelden Grey Warden ranks, but many innocent people in Ferelden died because of his paranoia. Did you know, for instance, that Empress Celene of Orlais was merely waiting on word from the king to send Orlesian Wardens and support troops to help us against the darkspawn? Because of Loghain’s insistence that we “did not need them,” the late-king did without. We all know how that went. Did you know, when the Wardens of Orlais later heard about the defeat and came to the border to help us, Loghain’s forces turned them away? Ask yourself this: How many lives could those extra Wardens and chevaliers have saved? How much sooner could we have stopped the Blight?”

 

She looks me dead in the eye. “There are many things I regret. Having Loghain executed is not one of them. The blood of the innocent at Ostagar, in the Circle of Magi, of the elves taken from Denerim and sold into slavery, the people he allowed Howe to torture, of those who died to darkspawn because he pulled away the military forces meant to protect them… it called for justice.”

 

The child on her lap squirms, clearly wanting down to go explore. Her husband swoops in and scoops the little one up, pressing a quick kiss to his wife’s cheek before taking his leave. She watches the pair leave with a smile and soft gaze.

 

“What’s their name?”

 

The smile fades. I can see the guards going back up in her eyes. “None of your business. Any claim to fame or infamy our child manages will be on their own merits, their own actions, not because of who their parents are. There are those who would wish them harm just to get to myself or Zevran. I’ll not allow it.”

 

“Oh come now, why the neutral pronouns? Your child is clearly a--”

 

Dear readers, let me assure you that there is nothing more terrifying in this world than a mother mage whose ire has been provoked. We resumed our conversation after… an understanding, several hours later.

 

“How would you say you changed the most during the Blight?”

 

“My illusion of leaders having only the good of their people at heart was rather thoroughly shattered, for one,” she says in a bored tone. “It doesn’t matter where, who, or what they are. Selfishness, greed, and pride seem to be pretty universal to the races of the world. I have a rather large collection of scars courtesy of a selfish bitch and her father. If nothing else, I’ve gotten some pretty memorable examples of what not to do when it comes to being any sort of leader or mentor.”

 

She refills her teacup and offers me some, as well. “I learned more in the year and change as a fugitive trying to stop the Blight than I did in a lifetime of study in the Circle. I’m not trying to knock the education that a Circle provides, it’s far and above what most get, comparable to many universities, but a cloistered life does not teach you how to mix well with everyday society. That particular learning curve was a steep one for me.”

 

“Also, learning to manage money for the first time was… an experience. I’d never had so much as a copper coin before the Blight. The Circle had provided everything before that. I didn’t even know what a sovereign coin looked like, or what it was worth! When I found out that people were killed over stupid coins with stupid little pictures stamped on them, I was… upset. I am a healer, at heart. The idea that a life can be given a monetary value offends me deeply. Coins can be replaced, life cannot.” Her knuckles are white as she carefully sets her cup and saucer on to the table.

 

“And yet, you married an Antivan Crow.”

 

She gives me an admittedly deserved glare. “Ex-Antivan Crow. He was not given a choice about joining them. Did you know that they buy children off the slave markets as a method of recruitment? Were you born into different circumstances, it could’ve been you learning to kill as a child, instead.”

 

“Do you fear retribution from the Crows at all?”

 

“Fear them? No, they’ll never get that satisfaction from me. ‘Concerned’ would be a more fitting term. Do I let that rule my life? No. They think themselves more important than they really are. They should ask the archdemon how well interfering with me and my goals worked out for it,” she finishes with a toothy grin.

 

“Speaking of the archdemon, how did you do it?”

 

She quirks a brow. “Do what, kill it? Same way as any dragon: beat it until it stops moving, then lop the thing’s head off. The bothersome bit is the “beating it until it stops moving” part. They have the head most tastefully displayed over a fireplace in Weisshaupt, by the way. I saw it myself.”

 

“I mean, how did you survive? Every archdemon slain has taken at least one Grey Warden’s life in the process.”

 

“A Grey Warden did sacrifice himself at the Battle of Denerim,” she looks at me as if explaining something to a very slow child. “Riordan of Jader was responsible for the beast being denied the advantage of flight. Were it not for his actions, the army would not have had a prayer against it. I was merely the woman who lopped its head off. He was the hero, if you ask me.”

 

“But--”

 

“If your next question is in anyway archdemon-flavored, this interview is over.”

 

Lady Arainai keeps a lovely garden. I had a brief view while flying over it. Her bodyguards are stronger than they look.


End file.
